1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to the field of synthetic musks, and more particularly that of nitrated synthetic musks. More particularly again, the invention relates to a novel composition based on nitrated synthetic musks, which has a special advantage in its application to the industries of perfumery, washing materials and detergents.
2. Description of the Prior Art
To the man skilled in the art, nitrated synthetic musks are known and their use incorporated into products derived from the industry of perfumes, washing materials and the like. Among the nitrated synthetic musks most frequently encountered in practice are: musk xylene, musk ambrette, musk ketone, musk tibetene and musk moskene.
The exact chemical names of these musks are as follows:
Musk xylene PA0 Musk ketone PA0 Musk ambrette PA0 Musk tibetene PA0 Musk moskene
1-t. butyl-3,5-dimethyl-2,4,6-trinitrobenzene PA1 4-t. butyl-2-methyl-3,6-dinitro-acetophenone PA1 6-t. butyl-3-methyl-2,4-dinitro anisole PA1 2,6-dinitro-3,4,5-trimethyl-tert-butylbenzene PA1 1,1,3,3,5-pentamethyl-4,6-dinitroindane. PA1 Musk xylene: Patents FR 194,833; GB 18,521; DT 77,299 PA1 Musk ambrette: DT 62,362 PA1 Musk ketone: DT 87,130 PA1 Musk moskene: US 1,892,128 PA1 Musk tibetene: US 2,072,293
The musks concerned are products which have been known for a long time. They are described respectively in the patents:
It is noted in practice that there are certain difficulties in the formulation of musk-based compositions, particularly when it is desired to mix the musk with intended additives, for example, to ensure complete stability thereof. The musk-based compositions are then difficult to introduce into the usual formulations of perfumery, which naturally presents practical drawbacks.
In addition, certain recent works have considered that synthetic musks, for the very reason of the presence of nitrated substituents, were capable of constituting dangers, although no veritable observation has been made on the claimed explosive properties of the nitrated synthetic musks concerned; for example, musk xylene, which is a trinitro derivative of tertiary butyl-m-xylene, does not possess proper explosive properties; this must be attributable to its chemical structure and, notably, to the presence of two methyl substituent groups and of a tertiary butyl group on the benzene ring. According to results of these works, musk xylene would be catalogued in the so-called dangerous category IA, failing moreover the existence of a suitable category, in referring to international transportation regulations normally in force.
On the other hand it should be noted that, according to prior art, there has already been proposed the use, in fragrance compositions, of certain additives to obtain fragrance compositions having particular properties.
For this purpose reference may be made to the U.S. Pat. No. 3,939,099 which relates to fragrance compositions whose initial odor strength is adequate when said composition is applied to a substrate, for example the skin and which remains noticeable for a long period of time. These compositions comprise a fragrance oil and a filmforming agent, these constituents being mutually soluble in a water-ethanol solvent system, which represents the third constituent of this composition. In general the fragrance oil is present in this composition in an amount comprised between 0.01 and 50.0% by weight, the filmforming agent in an amount comprised between 0.01 and 20.0% by weight and the solvent in an amount comprised between 30.0 and 99.98% by weight, all the percentages indicated being calculated with respect to the total weight of the composition. Among suitable fragrance oils are included musk ketone and musk ambrette. The filmforming agents are ionic or non-ionic derivatives of water-soluble polymers, for example derivatives of polyvinylpyrrolidone and derivatives of cellulose. It seems that in this composition, the fragrance oil is entrapped by the filmforming agent in the course of evaporation of the volatile solvent and that the release of said fragrance oil thus takes place at a reduced release rate.
Great Britain Pat. No. 716,882 relates to a process for the production of water-soluble powdered perfurmed products. This process consists of taking a water-soluble substance dissolving it in water, drying it by spraying the resultant solution to obtain a water-soluble vehicle and absorbing in said vehicle at least 10 percent, with respect to its own weight, of the perfume. Thus this patent relates to perfumed products which are pulverulent and soluble in water and which contain, by way of additive, a vehicle conferring on them particular properties.
French Pat. No. 1,034,444 relates to a dry solid perfume which contains, by way of supporting substance for the essences, a polyvinyl alcohol. The dry perfumes thus obtained do not lose their aroma even after considerable time. The polyvinyl alcohol enables the volatility of the essences to be reduced; it is indicated in this patent that other organic substances containing the hydroxyl radical and of high molecular weight, such as cellulose, starch and lactose, are not suitable.
French Pat. No. 1,238,722 relates to a process for obtaining solidified perfumes which consist of dispersions of alkali stearates in non-miscible solvents or in essential perfumes or a mixture of the two. The additive applied in this process, namely: the alkali stearate, enables the production of solidified perfumes.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a nitrated synthetic musk-based composition which is completely free of the aforesaid drawbacks.
It is another object of the invention to provide a novel composition which can be easily formulated within a product of perfumery, a detergent or a washing material, whilst having the same olfactory properties as the basic musk.
It is another object of the invention to provide a novel synthetic musk composition which possesses stability enabling it to be considered as belonging to the category of normal products.
It is an another object of the invention to provide an industrial product, such as perfume, detergent or washing agent, comprising a nitrated synthetic musk-based composition.